Pepperdine University School of Law

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Graduating with Honors

2006 Valedictorian Achieves the Highest Recorded GPA in School's History

story > Megan Huard
Elliot Anderson had a real dilemma.

The Pepperdine School of Law student promised to take his wife to Disneyland for her birthday, but his Wills and Trusts midterm fell on the same day. What's a husband to do? Anderson approached professor Kristine Knaplund and pleaded his case. She did not hesitate: he should take his wife to Disneyland and reschedule his midterm.

Such care and personal attention defined Anderson's experience at Pepperdine. As the 2006 School of Law Valedictorian, he earned the highest cumulative grade point average in the history of the Pepperdine School of Law. But it is gratitude he feels for this honor, not pride.

"I came to Pepperdine because then Dean Richardson Lynn said to us, 'If you want to be a decent person and good lawyer, come here.' No other schools said that," Anderson recalls. "I wanted to learn how to be a lawyer in a community, how to go through law school and still like who I am. Pepperdine has made good on Dean Lynn's promise. I am grateful to God for how this has turned out, and that I've been able to return on what God has given me."

A native of small town Lindale, Texas, Anderson graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a double major in English and history. With tentative plans to teach high school, he spent two years in China teaching English. Upon his return, Anderson worked for an Oklahoma mortgage company and began dating Erin, a physical therapist and his future wife.

Anderson planned to pursue a business degree until a friend observed that his talents were more closely suited to the law. During his first semester at Pepperdine, faculty mentor Anthony "Skippy" McDermott told students that if they ever needed anything, even something not related to school, they should ask him. When Anderson's mother phoned him for help with making his grandparents' living will, he turned to McDermott. "He helped me get everything done. He said 'anything at all,' and he really meant it. I can't tell you how blessed we've been to be here."

The School of Law also presented two incredible opportunities: serving as editor-in-chief of Pepperdine Law Review and demonstrating remarkable skill in moot court competitions. He and partner Joshua Hill won First Place in the Spring 2005 Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C., and Second Place in Pepperdine's Dalsimer Moot Court Competition. Anderson also won the Armand Arabian Tournament on campus in Fall 2005. He refl ects, "It is the Pepperdine experience and accomplishment for which I am most grateful to God."

Following graduation, Anderson and his wife returned to Oklahoma, where he accepted a position in general practice litigation with Crowe & Dunlevy, the state's biggest law firm. In 2007, he will clerk for chief judge Edith Jones of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Although he was offered a place at a large firm in Washington, D.C., "We decided to start where we wanted to end up," Anderson says. "This choice gives us what the D.C. firm couldn't: Erin's family nearby, a sense of community, and the welcome and embrace of us as a unit."

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